153.09 SICK LEAVE.

   (a)    Sick leave shall be defined as an absence with pay necessitated by:

      (1)    Illness or injury to the employee;

      (2)    Exposure by the employee to a contagious disease communicable to other employees; or

      (3)    Illness, injury, or death in the employee's immediate family.

   (b)    All permanent full-time employees shall accumulate sick leave at the rate of four and six-tenths (4.6) hours for every eighty (80) hours worked, submitted and approved, and may accumulate such sick leave to an unlimited amount. However, at no time shall the number of sick leave hours accumulated exceed one hundred twenty (120) hours per year.

   (c)    Employees covered under this section shall notify the Municipality of such absence and the reason therefore no later than one (1) hour after the start of the work day for which the employee is scheduled to report with the exception of safety personnel who shall report by their respective departmental rules and regulations. Before an absence may be charged against accumulated sick leave, the affected employee's Department Head, or Mayor in the case of a Department Head, may require proof of illness, injury, or death in the family as may be satisfactory to him, or may require the employee to be examined by a physician designated by and paid for by the employer. An employee absent for more than two (2) work days must supply a physician's report to be eligible for paid sick leave, if requested by that employee's Department Head.

   (d)    If the employee fails to submit adequate proof of illness, injury, or death in the family, or in the event that upon such proof as is submitted or upon the request of medical examination, the Department Head finds there is not satisfactory evidence of illness, injury or death in the family sufficient to justify the employee's absence, such leave may be considered an unauthorized absence and shall be without pay.

   (e)    Any abuse or patterned use of sick leave shall be just and sufficient cause for disciplinary action including but not limited to reprimand, suspension and/or discharge.

   (f)    Department Heads may require an employee who has been absent due to a personal illness or injury lasting more than three (3) days, prior to and as a condition of return to work, to be examined by a physician designated and paid for by the Municipality, to establish that such employee is not disabled from the performance of his or her duties and that his or her return to work will not jeopardize the health and safety of other employees.

   (g)    When the use of sick leave is due to illness or injury in the immediate family, "immediate family" shall be defined to only include the employee's spouse, children, dependents who reside with the employee, parents, parents-in-law and individuals for whom the employee serves as the legal guardian.

   (h)    Upon retirement, death and/or voluntary termination from service, all full-time employees hired before January 1, 2011 shall be entitled to receive credit and payment for accumulated but unused sick leave not to exceed nine hundred sixty (960) hours, provided that they have been employed by the Municipality for ten (10) years or more. For purposes of this Section, an employee shall be considered to have retired when such employee takes action that is inconsistent with any reasonable intent to continue employment with the Municipality.

   (i)    Upon retirement, death and/or voluntary termination from service, all full-time employees hired on or after January 1, 2011, who have been employed by the Municipality for ten (10) years or more, shall be entitled to receive credit and payment for three-quarters (3/4) of their accumulated but unused sick leave not to exceed four hundred eighty (480) hours; all employees who have been employed by the Municipality for twenty (20) years or more, shall be entitled to receive credit and payment for three-quarters (3/4) of their accumulated but unused sick leave not to exceed nine hundred sixty (960) hours; and all employees who have been employed by the Municipality for twenty-five (25) years or more, shall be entitled to receive credit and payment for all of their accumulated but unused sick leave not to exceed nine hundred sixty (960) hours. For purposes of this Section, an employee shall be considered to have retired when such employee takes actions that are inconsistent with any reasonable intent to continue employment with the Municipality.

   (j)    Any permanent full-time employee who has a sick leave accumulation of forty-five (45) days, has worked for the Municipality for at least twelve (12) months, and has not used any sick days earned during the current year shall be compensated at the end of the calendar year the equivalent of five (5) days' pay. Sick leave accumulation lawfully transferred from prior public employees shall be included for purposes of this section. If under the foregoing circumstances, the employee has used one (1) earned sick day during the calendar year, then said employee shall be compensated at the end of the year for four ( 4) days' pay. If, under the foregoing circumstances, the employee has used two (2) earned sick days during the calendar year, then said employee shall be compensated at the end of the year for three (3) days' pay. If, under the foregoing circumstances, the employee has used three (3) earned sick days during the calendar year, then said employee shall be compensated at the end of the year for two (2) days' pay. If, under the foregoing circumstances, the employee has used four ( 4) earned sick days during the calendar year, then said employee shall be compensated at the end of the year for one (1) day's pay. All sick days paid under this section shall be at the option of the employee, shall be deducted from the employee's accumulated but unused sick leave, and shall be paid at the end of the calendar year.

   (k)    If a full-time employee is scheduled to work on a holiday enumerated in Section 153.14 and cannot work due to illness, that day shall be considered a holiday day off and shall not be counted or compensated as a sick day.

   (l)    An employee who transfers from one department of the Municipality to any other department of the Municipality shall be allowed to transfer accumulated sick leave to the new department.

   (m)    "Hours of service" as used in this section includes overtime, vacations, holidays, sick leave, comp time and all other approved and paid leaves of absence from service. "Hours of service" does not include the additional compensatory time allowed an employee who works a holiday or has his or her normal day off on a holiday.

(Ord. 2023-18. Passed 12-4-23.)